DTIC ADA448671: Religion and the Military: A Growing Ethical Dilemma

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USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT
RELIGION AND THE MILITARY: A GROWING ETHICAL DILEMMA
by
Captain (sel) Lawrence P. Greenslit
United States Navy
Dr. David Perry
Project Adviser
This SRP is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Strategic Studies Degree.
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Religion and the Military A Growing Ethical Dilemma
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Lawrence Greenslit
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ABSTRACT
AUTHOR: Captain (sel) Lawrence P. Greenslit
TITLE: Religion and the Military: A Growing Ethical Dilemma
FORMAT: Strategy Research Project
DATE: 23 January 2006 WORD COUNT: 5647 PAGES: 18
KEY TERMS: Chaplain; Command Climate; Freedom Of Religious Expression;
Christian Evangelicalism
CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified
Ethical dilemmas over the issue of freedom of personal religious expression and fair
treatment for all faith groups are creating conflicts within the military, both inside and outside the
chaplaincies. A lawsuit filed by a group of Navy chaplains, alleging discrimination by the
Chaplain Corps on the basis of their religion, is currently making its way through the courts.
Recently, a few senior officers at the Air Force Academy were accused of using their position to
inappropriately propagate Christian views. Given the fact that non-Judaeo-Christian religious
groups are proliferating in the military, it is likely that such conflicts will continue to occur absent
an intentional strategy to address this issue. This SRP will review the history of this growing
dilemma and recommend ways to address it in a way that is not only fair to all concerned but
upholds the American tradition of tolerance toward all religious groups and contributes to a
positive command climate.

RELIGION AND THE MILITARY: A GROWING ETHICAL DILEMMA
The young man who knocked on my door and asked, somewhat hesitantly, “Got a minute,
chaps?” seemed at first like so many others who want to talk to a chaplain but are reluctant to
do so. I invited him to sit down and tell me what was on his mind. His question was one I did not
anticipate. In retrospect, however, this was one of the more honest and memorable
conversations I have had during my 19-plus years as a Navy chaplain. He asked, “With all due
respect, sir, what am I as an atheist supposed to do when you offer a public prayer during a
command function? I can’t leave, and if I bow my head and participate I feel that I am being
hypocritical. What do I do?”
On another occasion, I was approached by a young man who is an adherent of Islam. He
was trying to adhere to the dietary requirements of his faith but was having difficulty eating in
the mess hall. Specifically, he stated, some of the food servers were using utensils to serve
more than one kind of food, and in so doing they were rendering unclean some of the food that
he was allowed to eat. “What do I do, chaplain?,” he asked.
While I was attending the Chaplain’s Basic Course in Newport in 1986, a chaplain was
counseled by superiors after delivering a brief meditation followed by a prayer which he
concluded with the words, “I ask this in the name of Jesus”. He was told that these words
demonstrated insensitivity to the Jewish rabbis who were present and that such language would
cause him difficulties in future assignments.
Such events illustrate well the kind of dilemmas regularly faced by military personnel,
chaplains as well as non-chaplains, in the area of religion. Though we may hear little in the
media about military personnel and religious faith, this is not an unimportant issue. Few topics
can engender a more heated exchange than a discussion of religion, which is why, in jest but
also in seriousness, religion and politics are considered off-limits in many social situations.
Religious beliefs are often at the very heart of one’s identity and value system, and to question
another person’s religious beliefs is often to communicate, in effect, a belief that the person is
literally going to spend eternity in hell.
It is obvious, therefore, that the accommodation, or lack thereof, of diverse religious
beliefs and practices in the military can have an impact on command climate. When personnel
perceive that their religious beliefs are at least respected and taken seriously, it follows that their
motivation and morale will be positively impacted. On the other hand, personnel who think that
their religious beliefs are not respected, or, in the worst case, that their right to believe and
practice their faith is being denied, will experience a negative impact on their morale and,
consequently, on their performance. “Command climate” is a multi-faceted and challenging
topic, but it is beyond dispute that command climate will impact the morale and performance of
military personnel, and that respect for individual religious beliefs is an integral part of command
climate.
More is at stake in this issue than just command climate. The United States professes to
be the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” and an important aspect of that freedom is
freedom of religion. If a widespread perception emerges, both among the American public and
the international community, that religious freedom is lacking in our military, then America’s
moral standing among the community of nations is diminished. Conversely, a demonstrated
willingness and ability to accommodate religious belief and practice in the military will not only
improve command climate but will also demonstrate to the international community that
Americans practice what they preach.
As an example, the United States is now engaged in an effort to grow democratic roots in
Iraq, and a large part of that effort has to do with getting Shiite and Sunni Muslims to cooperate
despite their religious differences. It is not a stretch to say that American credibility as an honest
broker in this effort can be undermined if the American military, as well as the larger body politic,
has difficulty coming to grips with this issue. America must be perceived as leading the way in
guaranteeing not only the freedom of religious expression but also in balancing the competing
interests that emerge when people of different faith groups are asked to co-exist.
However, recent discussions on the importance of command climate have omitted the
topic of religious diversity and its impact on command climate. For example, Steven M. Jones,1
and Mady Wechsler Segal and Chris Bourg2, speak convincingly in their otherwise excellent
articles of the need to improve command climate and leadership in the Army, and make
concrete suggestions to achieve that end.
A striking omission from those articles is the element of respect for religious diversity and
the impact that lack of such respect may have on command climate and mission
accomplishment, not to mention the larger issue of America’s moral standing in the world. Segal
and Bourg address the issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, but not the
issue of religious diversity. Steven Jones makes a compelling argument that command climate
is increasingly important in the Army, but makes no mention of the issue of religious tolerance
as a factor in improving that climate.
However, issues surrounding religion and the military are growing and are likely to
continue to do so. Specifically, an issue is presenting itself with increasing clarity as well as
discomfort to military leaders. It is this: How does the military effectively balance the right of the
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individual to freedom of religious expression with the responsibility to respect differing religious
views and practices? This is not as much a matter of right and wrong as it is of balancing rights
and responsibilities: every citizen and military member has the right to worship as he or she
sees fit, while at the same time carrying the responsibility to guarantee that right to those who
believe differently than they do.
This might also be described as an ethical dilemma because each end is morally justified.
On the one hand, it is a fundamental right of American military members to practice the faith of
their choice. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of every service member to foster an
atmosphere of respect for all religious faith groups, no matter what the personal views of the
service member. In particular, it is the responsibility of commanders who ‘own’ the religious
programs within their units to ensure that personnel have access to religious services and
pastoral care. Chaplains are staff officers who are mainly responsible for carrying out those
religious programs and providing pastoral care, but the program itself, and the ultimate
responsibility for its provision, falls on commanding officers.
The issue is not new, of course. Religious issues have been implicitly or explicitly present
since the inception of the American armed forces and the decision to appoint clergy to act as
chaplains within the ranks. American society, and the military ranks as well, have always been
religiously diverse. But diversity is reaching new levels, presenting a challenge to commanders
and chaplains alike, and faith groups are becoming more assertive in asking for their rights to be
recognized. In the not too distant past, as shall be demonstrated below, the military was not
nearly as religiously diverse.
In the earliest days of the chaplaincies, and through much of the 20th century, the Army
and Navy Chaplain Corps were dominated by mainline Protestant clergy and Roman Catholic
priests. ‘Mainline Protestant clergy’ are herein defined as clergy from Protestant Christian
denominations such as the Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches. These
denominations tend to be characterized by a hierarchical form of government, a more formal
style of worship, an emphasis on the sacraments, and the practice of infant baptism. By
contrast, so-called ‘non-liturgical’ Protestant denominations tend to have a form of government
in which the local congregation has a great deal of autonomy, worship is less formal,
sacraments are practiced but without the same emphasis as in the mainline churches, and only
adults can be baptized. Baptists, Pentecostals, Assemblies of God, and Seventh Day Adventists
are examples of “non-liturgical” denominations.
The Navy has had chaplains since November of 1775, when the Continental Congress
directed that “[t]he Commanders of the thirteen United Colonies are to take care that divine
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services be performed twice a day on board, and a sermon preached on Sunday, unless bad
weather or other extraordinary events occur”.3 In 1779, John Paul Jones requested a Catholic
priest to serve on board the Bon Homme Richard.4 Not until 1917, however did the first Jewish
chaplain receive a Naval commission, and not until 1973 was the first woman commissioned
into the Navy as a chaplain.5 The Navy chaplaincy was dominated for much of its history by
Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant clergy.
The story in the Army is much the same, although the Army diversified its chaplaincy
earlier than the Navy. Chaplains served with the Continental Army, though no chaplain is found
on the rolls of that army until 1791.6 No Jewish rabbi served as an Army chaplain until the Civil
War; up to then, only Catholic priests and Protestant ministers served as chaplains. Most of the
Protestants were from mainline denominations, although, out of 43 chaplains on the rolls in
1813, five were Baptist and one was a Universalist.7 The first woman to enter the Army
chaplaincy did so in 1974.8
The Air Force Chaplain Service is, of course, an outgrowth of the Army Chaplain Corps.
The National Defense Act of 1947, which established the Defense Department, also created the
Air Force as a separate service. In 1949, the Air Force Chaplain Service was created and Army
chaplains were then permitted to leave the Army and become Air Force chaplains.9
From this brief review, it is clear that the military chaplaincies have been dominated by
Christian chaplains for much of their histories. Each of the three chaplaincies is committed to
supporting religious diversity, and has done so throughout most of its time of service. An
example of the kind of language to which chaplains of all three branches are exposed from the
time they first show interest in becoming a chaplain is found on the Air Force Chaplain’s
website:
Through an exciting and varied pastoral ministry, chaplains are the visible
reminder of the holy. You are considering the most unique spiritual opportunity
that is often more enhancing than one would ever expect.
Currently, there are over 600 active duty Air Force chaplains and nearly 600 in
service with the Reserves and Air National Guard. Each chaplain is endorsed by
his or her own religious group and remains faithful to the tenets of that body.
Chaplains also offer a broadly based ministry aimed at meeting the diverse
pastoral needs of the pluralistic military community. Active duty and Reserve
chaplains are responsible for supporting both directly and indirectly the free
exercise of religion for all members of the Military Services, their dependents,
and other authorized persons.10
In recent years, fulfilling that task has become more demanding. Muslim and Buddhist
chaplains have now been added to all three chaplaincies. The integration of these chaplains
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and the diversification of the chaplaincies appears to be proceeding smoothly. Nevertheless, it
is one thing for a Presbyterian minister to facilitate a worship service for Southern Baptists, but it
is quite another thing for that same minister to facilitate worship for Muslims. The same may be
said in reverse; it is challenge for imams to provide worship for Christians as well.
Religious diversity among servicemembers, as well as among the chaplaincies, is
increasing as well. This diversity is evident not just in the non-Christian religious groups that are
becoming increasingly visible. It is also evident in the Christian groups who are represented in
the military.
The trend among military personnel toward diversification and away from the traditional
expressions of religious faith represented by mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic
Christianity mirrors what is happening in American society, as one might expect. A recent poll
conducted by NEWSWEEK and BeliefNet summarized its findings in this way:
Whatever is going on here, it’s not an explosion of people going to church. The
great public manifestations of religiosity in American today—the megachurches
seating 8,000 people at one service, the emergence of evangelical preachers as
political powerbrokers—haven’t been reflected in increased attendance at
services. Of 1,004 respondents to the NEWSWEEK/BeliefNet Poll, 45 percent
said they attend worship services weekly, virtually identical to the the figure (44
percent) in a Gallup poll by Time in 1966. Then as now, there is probably a fair
amount of wishful thinking in those figures; researchers who have done actual
head counts in churches think the figure is probably more like 20 percent. There
has been a particular falloff in attendance by African-Americans, for whom the
church is no longer the only respectable avenue of social advancement.... The
fastest-growing category on surveys that ask people to give their religious
affiliation, says Patricia O’Connell Killen of Pacific Lutheran University in
Tacoma, Wash., is “none”. But “spirituality”, the impulse to seek communion with
the Divine, is thriving.11
Moreover, a research project sponsored by the City University of New York, comparing
trends in religious identification of American adults between 1990 and 2001, anticipates the
results quoted above. That project showed that the percentages of those who identify
themselves as Catholic or Protestant dropped during that decade. For example, the percentage
of those who identified themselves as Catholic decreased from 26.2% to 24.5%. Overall, the
percentage of those who identified themselves as Protestant dropped from 55.2% in 1990 to
45.1% in 2001. It is important to note, especially for the purposes of this paper, that when the
Protestant category was broken down into specific denominations, most of the churches that
showed any growth at all were those that, according to the definition offered above, would be
considered ‘non-liturgical’. The drop-offs were mostly in the ‘liturgical’ denominations.12
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The same research project found growth as well in percentages of those who identify
themselves as Islamic (+0.4%), Buddhist (+0.2%), or Hindu. (+0.3%). Those identifying
themselves as Jewish had dropped form 1.8% to 1.4%.13
That same diversity is, as noted above, occurring in the military and within the military
chaplaincies. A recent publication of the Presbyterian Council for Military Chaplains summarizes
this process within the chaplaincies in the following manner:
Most main-line denominations saw their numbers [of chaplains] decrease while at
the same time many newer denominations that had never before sent chaplains
to DOD asked to be included. During WWII there were 7 or 8 major Protestant
faiths sending chaplains to the services; today over 200 faith groups are
recognized by DOD and over 130 send at least one chaplain to the services.14
As diverse as American religion is becoming, both inside and outside the military, there is
one sector of Christianity, evangelicalism, that continues to grow in numbers and influence, and
it is from this sector that the most vitriolic disagreements have emerged in the recent history of
the military chaplaincies. This issue will dominate the remainder of this paper.
Evangelicalism is difficult to define because it is not a discrete Christian church but a
movement that embraces many denominations. Generally, Christian evangelicals may be
described as religiously conservative, with a strong emphasis on the moral teachings of the
Bible. In addition, most evangelicals would characterize themselves as having had a ‘born
again’ experience in which they commit themselves completely to Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior. Their worship generally reflects what was described above as ‘non-liturgical’, though
evangelicals are found across all denominational boundaries. A study conducted by the
American Religion Data Archive claims that evangelicals comprise 23% of the American
population.15
In recent years, the Navy and the Air Force have faced disputes involving evangelicals.
Those disputes are summarized below.
In March of 2000, a group of 11 Navy chaplains, all from “non-liturgical,” Christian
denominations, filed a lawsuit against the Navy alleging a variety of discriminatory practices as
well as a climate of hostility toward non-liturgical chaplains. Specifically, the 11 non-liturgical
chaplains allege that senior liturgical chaplains have not supported services for non-liturgical
personnel. In addition, it is alleged that the Chaplain Corps has unfairly divided chaplain
positions into “thirds,” with one-third of chaplain billets reserved for Catholics, one-third for
liturgical Protestants, and one-third for non-liturgical Protestants, respectively. This system is
unfair, the suit alleges, because more than 50% of the Navy’s population is affiliated with non-
liturgical Protestant groups. This policy, the suit claims, allows the Catholic and liturgical
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